“Not for the publicity, not for the money, not for any other reason,” Presley said, almost as if she were reminding herself of this truth. She stared into Joe’s eyes, saying loudly enough for the room to hear, “Ourbig romance is better than anything I could’ve ever had with Brett.”
Our Big Romance.Those had been the words written on the CD case. Joe had been telling the truth. It had been reminders of Joe and Presley’s romance that he’d been carrying around in his backpack, and it must’ve been her handwriting in his old yearbook. They’d been planning to reveal their relationship this weekend, but they hadn’t been planning a murder.
“God rest his bastard soul,” Joe said softly.
The two people at the top of my list hadn’t been the murderers, and though I’d eventually helped bring the real culprit out of the woodwork, I hadn’t discovered the killer as quickly as I would’ve liked. I’d even felt sympathy for Mina and the impending loss of her grandmother, which was still a reality she would have to face. Perhaps Mina could even use that as part of her defense. Not only had the murder not been premeditated, it had been a decision made during a time of psychological stress. I didn’t want Mina to go free, but I wasn’t sure that a life in prison was warranted in her case. Thankfully, I wasn’t the decider of such things. Now that I’d brought her crime to light, my job was done.
After Charlie had cuffed Mina and sent her with the deputy ahead of him, he came back to me in the Vampire Room, where I sat behind the table, Brett’s watch in front of me and Aunt DeeDee’s hand on my shoulder as we surveyed the tools of our fake séance – that had actually worked.
“I’m proud of you, baby girl,” my aunt said, as she planted a kiss on the top of my head. “Though I hate that it had to be Doris’s granddaughter.”
“Me too,” I told her, meaning it. “They’ll take into account that it was an accident, right?”
“The Lord only knows.”
“Do you think Doris—Miss 1962—will be all right?”
“She’s a tough cookie, might do something to get herself jailed just to be with her granddaughter, but either way, Doris isn’t long for this world, and she knows it. But I’m sure she’ll do everything she can for Mina until the end.”
“I guess that’s to be expected.”
Aunt DeeDee nodded slowly, studying me. “You are a wonder. I see more and more of your momma in you every day.”
This meant more to me than anything else she could say.
“Her way of seeing the world, her way of processing what life threw at her. The two of you would’ve made a great investigative team.”
I put a hand over hers. “You and I aren’t too bad either.”
“You did good, Dakota,” Charlie said, interrupting us. He gave me an official nod as Aunt DeeDee left the two of us alone. “I’ll be at the station for a while, getting Mina booked in.”
“I figured.”
“What about breakfast tomorrow?” he asked. “Before you head back to school?”
“Are you buying?”
Charlie grinned. “Happily.”
“Then, maybe we could go back to your place for a few minutes?” I asked, one eyebrow raised.
“Kitty would love to say goodbye before you leave.”
“Goodbye for now,” I said firmly. “I’m coming back, one way or another.”
“Oh yeah?” Charlie’s eyes lightened at the news.
“Someone once told me that I shouldn’t make decisions to try to impress people who don’t give a fig about me. I’ve still got to think through what that means, but either way, Aubergine is home.”
“Sounds like a wise someone,” he mused.
“Well, it was my mother, so, yeah,” I said with a slight chuckle.
Charlie leaned forward and gave me a kiss on my forehead and then the tip of my nose. He wanted more, I could feel it, but he showed self-restraint.
“Till the morning,” he breathed, before making his way out of the house.
Lacy and Anton had rushed to the door as soon as Mina was in handcuffs, likely trying to find a phone signal. With only a fewminutes until midnight, Lacy said the password aloud—a series of numbers, symbols, and letters—as she typed frantically.
